Dropping Bombs
by Knight Lybrica
Summary: Artemis decides to tell the team about her parentage, but she's not sure how they'll react...especially that jerk of a speedster.  No pairings unless you have on shipping goggles.


This is my first published fanfic, so R&R please. ^-^

**I do not own.**

* * *

><p>"You should tell them," Black Canary says again in their little therapy session—weekly things, now.<p>

Artemis frowns and pulls one leg into the bright green chair so she can rest her chin on her knee. "No, I shouldn't," she says belligerently.

Black Canary raises an eyebrow. "You know they'll find out one day. You can't keep this secret forever, and it would be better coming from you than, say, Jade."

"I know." Artemis looks away from her therapist and mentor, focusing on the dark wood floors instead. "But they don't trust me as it is. If I break something like this to them now, they'll…" She can't find the words to adequately describe the friendless scenario she's built in her head, so she just leaves it there.

"They'll _what,_exactly?" Black Canary presses. "Think about this. How would Megan react?"

Megan. Artemis has to admit it's hard to imagine the Martian girl getting too angry at her because of her family—it's hard to imagine Megan getting mad at all, really. "She'd be…okay, I guess," Artemis says uncertainly.

Black Canary smiles, satisfied. "What about Conner? Surely he'd be the last to judge someone by their heritage."

"But he was cloned from Superman!"

"And _created _by the League of Shadows," Black Canary reminds her gently. Artemis bites her lip and nods.

"Kaldur wouldn't be too mad," Artemis says. "He doesn't seem like the type…he's so level-headed."

"And Robin?" Black Canary prods.

Artemis snorts. "He'd say something dumb, but…even if he got worked up, Batman would snap him out of it." She frowns and runs one finger along a scrape on her palm. "So that's just Wally." The archer looks at Black Canary, but the woman doesn't offer any help—just leans back and watches her.

"He'd be—" What's the word she's looking for? "He'd be stupid." Her voice rises into a mocking falsetto. "'I told you we couldn't trust her! Now that we know her secret, she'll shoot us in our sleep! Red Arrow should've been on the team!' Blah, blah, blah." Artemis scowls.

"But how much worse would it be if he found out on accident?" Black Canary asks. "You remember how everyone reacted when they found Kaldur was concealing information about a mole. Even though you all agreed he had done the right thing later, everyone was very…aggressive at first."

The teenager nods, looking at the floor again.

"Besides that, we already established that four of five teammates wouldn't make a big deal of it." Black Canary leans forward, and Artemis isn't rude enough not to look up at her.

"But…" Artemis sighs. "That's not five out of five. I'll tell them, okay? Just give me time."

* * *

><p>When Artemis makes her decision, she tries to find him as quickly as possible, before she can chicken out. It doesn't take long to track down his apartment, just common sense and a little prodding of Green Arrow.<p>

She knocks on the door and no one answers; tries the knob, and it's locked. Might as well pick it, she figures. It's kind of fun to surprise someone like that.

She's sitting at the tiny kitchen table when he comes in. "You're gonna have to do better than that," he says before he looks into the kitchen. "At least lock the door back next time." Then Roy turns and sees her, her feet propped on the table and a half-eaten apple in one hand, and his expression of surprise almost makes her laugh.

Instead, she just smirks at him. "Expecting someone else?" she says dryly. "No, I don't want to know. I have to tell you something."

Roy's recovered by now, and he takes a seat opposite her, angled so he's facing _her_ and not the soles of her combat boots. "Well?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not related to Green Arrow," she begins.

"I _know_ that," he says impatiently. "I told you _months_ ago I knew that."

"I'm not done," Artemis snaps. "I _am _related to Sportsmaster. He's my dad, and Jade—Cheshire—is my sister. Roy's eyebrow rises. "And yeah, the League knows—I told them ages ago when I signed up." She glares at him and takes a bite of the apple. The loud crunch makes a good sound effect, she thinks.

"So," Roy says slowly, "why are you telling me?"

Artemis takes a minutes to swallow the bite of apple. "Practice, I guess," she finally says. Then, "Oh, and one more thing." Artemis pulls a familiar shuriken from her pocket, the one she found laying on his kitchen counter. Roy pales. "I don't know what you're doing, and I don't care," she recites. "Just don't endanger my team."

With that, she stands up and calmly walks from the apartment.

Artemis shuts the door behind her and leans against the wall, closing her eyes and listening to the frantic _thump_s of her heart.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Megan?" Artemis says, catching the Martian girl after she arrives from school. She's in the kitchen, as usual, experimenting with some kind of brown batter. Conner is watching her uncertainly, like he's thinking about helping but isn't sure how. "Can I talk to you?"<p>

"Yeah, sure," Megan says, smiling brightly at her. At Artemis's expression, or maybe some kind of psychic cue, she pauses. "Do you mean alone?"

Artemis looks at Megan and then at Conner. _Ah,__well,_she thinks. _Get__ it __over__ with._"No, but can you guys not tell the rest of the team about this?"

Megan nods, and after a pause and a speculative look, so does Conner. "Pinkie swear," Megan adds solemnly.

Artemis has to fight the urge to grin at that before she says, "My dad is Sportsmaster, and my sister is Cheshire."

Conner looks at her. "Okay," he says with a shrug.

"You aren't surprised?" Artemis asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Well," Megan says, "we knew you had something going on. You've always been mysterious, and no one really thought you were Green Arrow's niece." She tastes the batter and wrinkles her nose before replying. "Why else would you be lying unless you had something like that to hide?"

"So," Artemis says slowly, "do you distrust me? Or anything?"

Conner shakes his head. "You haven't done anything bad so far. What's the point?"

"Besides, you can't choose your family," Megan adds in a knowing tone.

* * *

><p>Artemis talks to Kaldur next, because she thinks he'll be the next easiest. It's after they practice sparring and both are tired and panting. "Hey," she says between deep breaths, wishing she could go put on deodorant or something, "can I talk to you for a second?"<p>

"Of course," he says calmly, walking a few feet from the rest of the group while Wally and Conner get started on their match.

Artemis couldn't believe that this confession thing would become easier, but somehow it is. Practice, she figures, and besides that she's finding it's a relief not to lie to _some_ of her team. "The League already knows what I'm about to tell you," she begins, "and they're okay with it." Kaldur nods and just looks at her. She can't help but notice his eyes look rather…fishy. "My dad is Sportsmaster, and Cheshire is my sister."

The Atlantean blinks once. "I thought it might be something like that," he says calmly.

"Did _everyone_?"

Kaldur nods, smiling a little at her annoyed expression.

Artemis scowls back. "So. Do you _trust_ me?"

Shrugging, Kaldur says, "No less than I did before you told me."

Which isn't really the answer Artemis was hoping for, but it isn't the answer she dreaded, either—so she lets it go and joins Robin and Megan.

_How'd__ he__ take __it?_ Megan asks her.

_Fine._

The Martian girl envelopes her in a sudden hug, drawing a curious look from Robin. _I'm __glad__ for__ you,_she says.

_Really?_ Artemis says. _Couldn't__ tell._ But she hugs Megan back, anyway.

* * *

><p>Artemis wants to save the worst, by which she means that pigheaded jerk speedster, for last, so when she runs into Robin again by the Gotham zeta tube entrance she asks, "Hey, can I talk to you?"<p>

The Boy Wonder sighs. "Is this about your dad really being Sportsmaster and your sister being Cheshire?"

Artemis stares. "They _told_ you about that?" she demands, her hands clenching into fists.

Shaking his head, Robin replies, "Nah. Batman did."

"_Why_?" Another teammate telling, she could believe—but _Batman_? Not that the Caped Crusader struck her as particularly honest, but…_still._

Robin shrugs. "He thought I should know who was on the team, and he knew I could handle it." He looks at her expression and adds, "Look, I know you asked him not to, but it's not like I would've treated you differently otherwise. I trust Batman, and he trusts you as much as anyone, so I didn't worry about it. Happy?"

"No," Artemis snaps immediately, but relaxes a little. "You won't tell Wally?"

One of his eyebrows rises. "Is he the only person you haven't told?"

"Well…" She scowls at him. "Yes."

Robin cackles and says, "I don't blame you. Don't worry, though, he won't say anything he'll mean later."

"What?"

The Boy Wonder shakes his head and cackles again. "Let's just get to Mount Justice. I hear there's a big job going down tonight."

"Something _else_ Batman told you?" Artemis grumbles. Robin laughs one last time and fires up the zeta tube.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, she still hasn't told Wally. She doesn't really have the guts. <em>What's<em>_ the__ big__ deal?_ she thinks sometimes. _Five__ on __one. __Who__ cares __if__ he__ gets__ mad __now?_ But _she _cares, which is stupid because it's just _Wally,_that jerk. Admittedly he's probably the one she had told the most about her dad before, with all that business in Bialya, and good thing that kid isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer or he'd have spotted right away she was lying.

Of course, if he _hadn't_ believed her in Bialya, things would have been a lot easier in the long run, but she doesn't think about that. She tries not to think about Bialya quite a lot.

Artemis starts avoiding him without realizing it. Little things, like picking a spot on the floor instead of the one part of the couch next to him, or hanging back so they don't board the bioship together. He notices, too, and starts asking about it in his passive-aggressive way, but she blows him off like normal.

Finally one day he snaps, and right in the middle of a sparring match too. She goes out of her way not to get a match with him, tries to sign up to fight Robin (which won't be fun—hand-to-hand isn't her specialty, but that thirteen-year-old is a master), but he asks to fight her before she can.

"Please. I want to _train,_not kick some loser's butt in two minutes," she snaps, aggressive even for her.

"Actually, Artemis," Black Canary says, giving her one of those knowing looks, "I don't believe you've fought Wally before. This will give you some practice going up against someone with superior speed."

Wally smirks at her a little. "Fine," she growls. "But _don't _take off your shirt."

A minute later and they're on the floor. She's changed into tighter clothes so he can't get a handhold. He's taken off his shirt, and she swears it's just to make her mad—but he's not even smirking at her like he usually does. Doesn't even ask if she sees something she likes (which she doesn't). It's kind of weird.

The match starts and Artemis knows that—unfortunately—without her arrows, it's a lot easier to beat her. She's tough but not built enough for a melee; not like Cheshire. Wally's got her arm pinned behind her back when he asks, whining a little, "Why have you been avoiding me?"

Artemis doesn't answer, just wriggles out of his grip and plants a punch right in his stomach. Unfortunately he's too full of hot air for it to have much effect, so a few minutes later she's tripped him and has him pinned under her, waiting for the countdown to tell her she's won, and he says, "I'm _serious.__Why_?"

"Do I _need_ an excuse?" she hisses, and he flips out from beneath her. That's what she gets, for talking back to him.

He beats her a few minutes later and they get off the mat, both of them furious and Artemis too mad to speak to him. She grabs and towel and a bottle of water to chug while she watches Robin and Megan fight.

"You kind of _do_ need an excuse," he says, pulling on another shirt that immediately begins to darken with sweat. "I mean, who would want to avoid _me_?"

Artemis doesn't say anything, just raises her hand.

"Look, you're not telling me something," he says, frustrated, "and _I __want__ to__ know__ what__ it__ is_."

The archer glares at him. _Might__ as__ well__ get__ it__ over__ with._"Fine. You know what I told you in the desert about my dad probably wanting me to kill you?"

One bright red eyebrow rises. "Are you about to tell me that wasn't from a movie about ninjas? Because I knew that."

"Does _everyone_ know before I tell them?" she yells at no one in particular.

"_Yes,_" Conner yells back.

"_Thanks, _Conner," she snaps.

"You're _welcome._" She swears she can see him grinning, and she _knows_ Kaldur is. Artemis doesn't even bother looking at Robin and Megan.

Wally's eyes widen and he grabs her shoulder. "Wait. Have you told everyone about this already?"

She nods.

"_Everyone_?"

"Yeah, that's why I nodded," she snaps at him.

He holds up a hand and closes his eyes. "So," he says, opening them and glaring at her, "what you're telling _me_—is that you told _every__ single__ person __on__ the__ team_ about this so-called secret—and you're just now getting around to me about it? And you're only telling me because I made you mad?"

"Well, I was going to tell you eventually—"

"That's not the point! Why would you wait to tell me _last_?"

Artemis frowns and jerks away from him; he smells like sweat. "You don't even know who my dad is yet!"

"Fine! Who's your ninja dad?" he snaps.

"My ninja dad is Sportsmaster and my ninja sister is Cheshire!"

He stares at her. "And _why_ am I the last one to find out?"

"Because I knew you'd overreact like this!"

Wally crosses his arms and glares at her. "I. Am _not._Overreacting."

"Yes you are! " she shouts. "You've been yelling and now you're using one word sentences!"

"I'm just mad because my _teammate_ decided that I was supposed to be out of the loop!"

"Well, _sorry,_I guess now you can't trust me, what else can you expect from Sportsmaster's daughter—" She whirls around, tries to walk away, but he darts in front of her and grabs her arm.

"I don't _care_ who your dad is, or your sister," he snaps at her. "I _care_ about you _not__ trusting __me._"

She stares at him, then, too shocked to really say anything.

"I mean, I know you don't like me, even though I can't figure out why—" She rolls her eyes, but he ignores her. "But something this big—I can understand not telling the _team_ right away, but why would you tell _everyone_ except me?"

"Because—I thought you would—agh!" She tears away from him and tries to walk away, but he's more persistent than a rash.

"Did you think I wouldn't _trust_ you anymore?" he snaps at her.

"Well—yeah, I kind of did," she snaps back. "I mean, it's not like you've ever been _supportive_ or anything—you don't even _like _me—"

"That doesn't mean I don't _trust_ you," he says firmly. "Look, we're team. Okay? Team trusts team. And _you _were the one who didn't trust _me._" Wally raises an eyebrow. "And _I_ think you owe me an apology."

"I do _not_!" she snaps at him and tries one more time to walk away; this time, he doesn't try to catch her.


End file.
